A private airplane that entered restricted air space over the Capitol was escorted out of the area by fighter jets, Secret Service spokesman Dan Dluzneski tells WTOP. Dluzneski says at about 11:15 Monday morning the plane was intercepted and directed out of Temporary Restricted Airspace because of the plane's direction of travel. An emergency response plan was immediately put in motion. "Once the airplane was diverted outside of the restricted airspace, normal operations resumed at the White House," Dluzneski said.
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"The pilot of the plane complied with all instructions from the intercept aircraft. At this point, the FAA is tracking the aircraft and the pilot will be interviewed upon landing."
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WTOP listeners from the Lafayette Park area said this included armed officers all around, and even outside the White House fence. In the past when planes have violated the exclusion zone to the east and west, it has not typically triggered that response.
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Master Sergeant Gary Carpenter of the North American Aerospace Defense Command said the pilot was allowed to continue on his journey to Jacksonville, Florida. "Once we did make an intercept, we did identify the aircraft, we got its tail number, and then escorted it out of the restricted airspace." Aircraft from the Bureau of Customs and Immigration Enforcement continued to accompany the plane after it left the D.C. area. Planes are prohibited from flying from the Kennedy Center to east of Capitol Hill, roughly from K Street to Southwest Freeway, says WTOP's Traffic Reporter Bob Marbourg. |